Getting Started with Basic Timelapse

Arsenal will trigger the shots for you, but you have full manual control of your settings.

Written by Carol Updated over a week ago

Full Manual control of your timelapse while it shoots with the ability to adjust interval, number of shots, EV, Shutterspeed, Aperture, and ISO levels.

Get ready to shoot a Basic Timelapse

Before shooting, always make sure that:

The camera is powered on

The Arsenal is powered on

The camera is connected via USB cable to Arsenal’s left port (unless you have a Sony camera that connects via WiFi)

Camera is set to Manual Mode

Switch to the Timelapse screen

Open the Arsenal app and swipe the mode slider at the very bottom of the screen to Timelapse. Click on “Custom” and select “Basic”.

Enable Live View

Tap the Live View icon in the upper right corner of the app. A live preview from your camera will appear on screen. While timelapse is shooting, you will see a preview of the timelapse in the live view screen. You can hit the play button to review the video.

Compose Your Shot

Place your camera and tripod to compose your shot. When getting started, we recommend having a subject in the foreground so you can test Arsenal’s various features.

Tap to Focus

To select a focus point, simply tap on the Live View image. A target will show the point you selected, and turn green once focused.

To switch focus modes, tap the square focus icon in the upper right corner.

Set your timelapse interval

Adjust the Interval slider to set the amount of time between each shot. Generally speaking, a shorter interval is best when your scene is changing more quickly. A longer interval is useful when you want to capture a gradual change over a long period of time.

Set the number of shots

Adjust the Number of Shots slider to choose the total number of images in your timelapse.

Set your Camera’s settings

Use the sliders to set your starting EV, Shutterspeed, Aperture, and ISO levels. These can be adjusted as you shoot the timelapse.

Trigger the Shutter

Press the shutter release button at the bottom of the screen to take a photo. Arsenal will trigger your camera’s shutter from up to 100 feet away.

Start and stop your timelapse

To start your timelapse, tap the shutter button once. Arsenal will shoot until you tell it to stop. To stop the timelapse, tap the shutter button in the app again.

Share or Save your timelapse

Click on the thumbnail in the lower right hand corner to access the gallery. Click on the image that shows a “clock movie icon” in the lower left corner to view and share your created timelapse. Click the share button to save or share your video to social media.

Note: The videos themselves will be available on Arsenal while their original photos remain on your memory card (once the images are removed from the card or the card is removed, the cache is cleared and the video will no longer appear).